More than 20 new highways will be built in the Tibet autonomous region next year, with a total investment of more than 33 billion yuan ($5 billion), according to a senior transportation official.

Included in the plans are new routes from Lhasa to Nakqu; Dege to Qamdo; Qamdo to Jaka; Lhasa to Xigaze Airport; and Gongkar Airport to Tsethang as well as the Nyima-Aso section of National Highway 317.

Ge Yutao, head of the regional transportation authority, said more than 54 billion yuan in State funds and loans were spent on Tibet's transport infrastructure this year.